Food prices have increased 40 percent globally since mid-2007, according to the Associated Press.

But the crisis of rising food prices is so dire in Haiti that it has led to riots. "Haitian lawmakers fired Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis over the rioting," according to the AP.

In response, the United Nations will distribute 8,000 tons of food, along with other help, to Haiti. "Food provided by the World Food Program will focus on children, pregnant women and nursing mothers in the north, west and central regions of Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere," according to the AP.

Once again, I am encouraging readers to make a donation, large or small, to a food bank near them. I purchased staples such as cereal, peanut butter, beans, soups, pasta, rice and macaroni and cheese (okay, okay, macaroni and cheese is not a staple--nor is it particularly healthy--but it is easy, quick and delicious) and took them to a public drop-off point for Northwest Harvest, Washington State's hunger relief agency, which provides 18 million pounds of food to more than 300 food banks annually. It didn't cost me a lot of time or a lot of money, and my small donation will help free someone from deciding whether to buy groceries or their prescription medication.